Sri Lankan police break up war remembrance service of Tamils

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s police broke up a remembrance service for ethnic Tamils killed in the separatist war, residents said Saturday, as the military prepared to celebrate its victory over Tamil Tiger rebels five years ago.
Tamil politicians attempted to stage the remembrance on Friday at local council offices in the northern battle-scarred town of Jaffna, defying a ban on public commemorations of war victims, witnesses said.
The government is planning a major military “victory parade” on Sunday to mark five years since the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels, who waged a decades-long battle for a separate homeland for minority Tamils.
Services have been banned to honor Tamil rebels and remember civilians killed in the conflict which ended in 2009 after claiming at least 100,000 lives.
In Jaffna, police barricaded the building, preventing politicians from entering, and smashed a banana tree branch brought to the service in a Hindu religious practice to commemorate the dead, witnesses said.